Absorbent personal care articles, such as feminine-care pads, napkins, and panty liners, and adult-care absorbent inserts (for undergarments) and absorbent pants, are frequently offered for bulk-volume sale as multiple individually-wrapped articles (each forming an inner package) contained within a single outer enclosure, so as to help preserve the cleanliness of such articles prior to use. For example, at least one compressed stack or row of individually-wrapped articles (i.e. each article in its own individual pouch or wrapper) are typically packed within either an outer-box, carton, or flexible-material container (hereinafter all referred to as “outer packaging”), such as a film, nonwoven, laminate, or foil-based bag. The individual wrappers themselves are typically also made from a flexible film, nonwoven sheet, or laminate of the two. Such outer packaging may include a reclosable flap to cover an opening in the packaging, such as for example, those flaps illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,911 to Joseph et al. and in international patent publication WO2014/080878 to Kashiwagi et al.
More often than not, such outer packaging contains multiple stacks of wrapped articles. Such outer packaging is frequently stored in a consumer's bathroom cabinet or pantry, and is usually too large to be discretely transported on a consumer's person for dispensing such articles as needed. As a result of such size limitations of the outer packaging, and consumers' desire to discretely transport a relatively smaller number of absorbent articles at-a-time when away from home, a variety of more portable, “convenience” packaging designs have been developed. Such “convenience” packaging may resemble a wallet, and come initially with the articles stored inside. Such “convenience” packaging may also be repetitively restocked with articles taken from larger outer packaging, as the contents become depleted over time. Such “convenience” packaging designs protect such articles from contaminants in the surrounding environment, and maintain a level of organization of the articles, rather than the alternative of having them scattered about in a user's pockets, purse, or other transporting bag.
The “convenience” packaging, typically in the form of pouches with resealable adhesive flaps, are formed from flexible materials such as film or nonwoven sheet materials. For example, as seen in European Patent 1357877B1 to Ling et al., a resealable pouch is described for keeping a manageable number of individually-wrapped absorbent articles discretely in a single location, for storage typically within a consumer's pocket or purse. Such resealable pouch offers an alternative to such articles being spread loosely about, as such disorganization may eventually lead to article soiling from surrounding cosmetics or sundries, or even worse, may lead to article damage. Such protective pouch is often formed from an opaque and sometimes ornamentally-colored sheet material, so as to be emotionally uplifting, and so that the actual contents cannot be easily determined through the pouch, from casual observation of a passerby. It has been found that consumers prefer such stored articles also to be individually wrapped, despite the fact that they are also stored in the outer resealable pouch, in order to provide an extra level of protection from contaminants in the consumer's environment.
Despite being beneficial for and desired by consumers, in use such adhesively resealable pouches pose some operational challenges. For instance, such pouches require adhesively fastening and unfastening an envelope-style flap each time a new article from the pouch is needed. Therefore, the outer pouch only works to maintain complete separation of individually-wrapped absorbent articles from their outside environment as long as the adhesive fastener remains viable. If after repeated opening (i.e. unsealing) and closing (i.e. sealing) of the flap, the pressure-sensitive adhesive fastener loses its tackiness, the individually-wrapped articles may become soiled (as a result of environmental contaminants penetrating the packaging through the open flap) or actually fall from the packaging through the open flap. Additionally, unsightly contaminants and dirt from a consumer's environment may become stuck to the adhesive of the pouch flap. Further, restocking of packaging having adhesive flaps may pose challenges, as the adhesive may inadvertently stick to the absorbent articles themselves, as they are being replaced in the packaging for later use. Finally, such limited-life adhesive frequently adds significant manufacturing complexity and expense to the manufacturing costs of the packaging. Therefore, there is a need for “convenience” absorbent article packaging, which provides for extended use of a reclosable flap during repeated opening and closing operations, and without the use of costly adhesive. There is a further need for a convenience absorbent article packaging which may be easily restocked with individual absorbent articles, as packaging contents become depleted.
While other types of reclosable closure mechanisms are available for use on convenience packaging, such as for example, zipper-like devices, tie-knot devices, button and loop-type devices, and mechanical fasteners such as hook and loop materials, such structures also require more complex manufacturing steps for implementation, and add significant expense to the overall packaging cost. There is therefore a need for an alternative closure mechanism which may be easily understood by consumers and used on absorbent article “convenience” packaging, and which does not add significantly to overall packaging costs. There is a further need for active-consumer, “on-the-go” style packaging, which packaging may be easily transported, and which may be repeatedly opened and closed despite diverse environmental conditions, such as those which may be encountered during a consumer's exercise routine in a gym, aquatic facility, or outside a consumer's residence. There is also a need for such packaging which may be adjustably closed so as to accommodate an ever-changing amount of packaging contents over time.